A Way Home
by Jack'sgirlhtl
Summary: This is sort of a sequel to A Doctor's Love but it can be read on it's own.This is what happens after Dr Paige Ashby activated an Ancient device
1. Device Activated

**Disclaimer – **I do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of the characters,I am just borrowing them for a short time.

This is a story starring ,Dr Elizabeth Weir,Dr Rodney McKay,Teyla,and John Shepparsbut to name a few,Along side a few original characters including Dr Helen McCoy and Dr Paige Ashby

_When the device had first been brought back Dr Paige Ashby and her team had been asked to have a look at it due to the fact that Dr McKay was off world with Col Sheppard and co at the time negotiating trading rights, with an old acquaintance of Teyla's people. And by the time they had returned she had done so much research on the device that it was deemed that her team should continue with their studies. So for the next few weeks she was assigned to finding out as much as she could about the device _

_On first inspection they had believed it to be of Wraith design but upon further study had discovered it was Ancient, which had gotten everyone very excited and Rodney involved, much to Paige's dislike as Dr McKay would often drop by when ever he had a spare moment and start instructing her staff on experiments to run. And on more than one occasion she had had to call Dr Weir, asking her to intervene before she was forced to get physical with the head scientist._

_The device had been on Atlantis for three weeks, but so far Paige and her team where no closer to figuring out how or what it did. All that changed a couple of days later._

_Paige leaned over the work bench, reaching for a piece of equipment when the device she'd been working on started to glow. Quickly she sat back checking her laptop to find that the device was now giving off energy. She was about to call someone when the device started humming, somehow drawing Paige in, causing her to move closer and not knowing why move to touch it. But just as her fingers were about to make contact Helen's voice sounded behind her "hey you want to go get some food?" _

_Paige looked over her shoulder "No not just now, you go ahead I'll be there later. I just want to finish this first"_

"_Fine I'll see you later but please remember to eat something at some point tonight ok"_

"_Yes mother" Paige muttered as she turned back to the device, smiling as she heard her friend laugh before leaving._

_Paige focused her attention back to the object in front of her to find that it had stopped glowing but was still humming quietly to itself. She double checked her laptop reading's finding that they remained constant; the device was emitting a low EM field approx one foot in diameter around itself._

_Intrigued by the reading's she was getting Paige picked up one of the Atlantis scanners and ran it over the device only to have is start glowing again and the humming sound increase. Again Paige was strangely drawn forward, her hand reaching out to touch the iriedisant dome and this time her fingers made contact sending a tingling sensation up her hand into her arm. Suddenly the tingling became more intense almost to the point of pain and Paige tried to remove her hand but found she couldn't. Out of nowhere there came a white flash causing her to bring her free hand up to her eyes, then as quickly as it appeared it was gone, and Paige slowly lowered her hand, looking around._

_Something was off, she was still in her lab but it looked different somehow, she didn't get a chance to think what because suddenly an alarm sounded making Paige reach up to her ear. 'Where's my ear piece' she started to say before a huge explosion ripped through the lab, picking her up and throwing her across the room. Paige let out a piercing scream just as this happened before everything went black._

_She could hear voices, it sounded like they were shooting, calling out to someone. Paige opened her eyes, trying to figure out what had just happened, she took a moment to focus then went to move expecting to feel pain but none came. Slowly she got to her feet, what was going on; the last thing she remembered was being flung across the room so why wasn't she hurt. All thoughts of herself went out the window the instant she noticed the chaos around her. The lab was practically destroyed; there was debris all over the place. What the hell had happened?_

_Again she heard shouting and moved toward it. As she picked her way toward the lab entrance she paused by a blacked out console, catching her reflection and what she saw made her gasp in disbelief, looking back at her was a stranger._

_Slowly Paige opened her eyes, blinking against the light. She was lying on a bed surrounded by medical equipment. She must be in the infirmary; "Thank god, it had all been a dream." But just as she was about to call out for Dr Beckett, a tall fair haired man walked over carrying a chart._

"_Well Safran, you were extremely lucky, only a few cuts and brusies.Though I don't know how you managed it considering the state your lab was in." he said looking straight at her_

"_Sorry what did you call me?" Paige asked totally confused_

"_Safran, that's your name" _

_Paige was quiet for a second then spoke "Ok where am I and where's Dr Beckett?"_

"_Your in the infirmary, and I don't know any Dr Beckett" the man replied_

"_What do you mean, he's our CMO, how can you not know him, and who are you anyway?" Paige asked anger in her voice_

_The man seemed taken aback for a second before replying "Maybe you were injured, a concussion perhaps because you should know who I am. I'm Dimitri CMO of this facility but not only that I happen to be your brother."_

_Paige was very quiet, this couldn't be happening "Look I don't know who you are and for the record my name is Paige not Safran.So just stop playing games and tell me where Dr Beckett is"_

"_Perhaps you just need to rest. I'll give you something to help you sleep and we can talk later." Dimitri said as he picked up a syringe from the tray next to the bed and moved closer to her._

"_Hey back off, stay away from me." She said trying to move off the bed "I've told you I'm not Safran, why won't you believe me?" Paige stressed._

_Dimitri stilled as she said this taking a really close look at her. Seconds passed before he walked over to his desk, returning moments later holding what looked like a mirror._

"_That is the reason why I am finding it hard to believe you" he said as he held up the mirror, thus showing her her reflection._

_Again Paige was silent because looking back at her was a young woman of about 25 with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes._

"_But that's not me. What's happened to me?" Was all she said before Dimitri lowered the mirror and looked straight at her._

"_Safran you have been through a traumatic event, you survived a devastating explosion, one that you shouldn't really have walked away from. It's bound to have affected you. Now why don't you let me give you that sedative and once you have had a good night's sleep we can talk again."_

_Still not entirely sure this wasn't all a dream, Paige agreed in the hope that when she woke up everything would be back to normal_

_The next morning Paige woke to find that it hadn't been a dream and that she was still stuck in a strange infirmary, surrounded by people she didn't know. So again spent most of the morning trying to convince Dimitri that she wasn't his sister, that was until she realised that the only way she was ever going to be released was to at least appear to agree with him, to say that maybe she was a little confused due to the explosion. Paige thought it was a long shot and he would see through it in an instant but much to her surprise he seemed to believe her and started talking about releasing her in the near future_

Please review,you know you want to.


	2. Penten Believes

_It had been two days since Dimitri had released her from the infirmary and she still wasn't sure if he believed her about not being his sister or that he was still convinced she was suffering from post traumatic stress and had only released her due to the fact that he needed the bed. But Paige didn't care she was out and could now go about trying to figure out what had happened and come up with a way to reverse it. The first thing she'd done was return to the lab only to find that everything that could be saved had been moved to one of the neighbouring buildings on the campus. So she had immediately proceeded there in the hope that the device she thought was the cause of all this was still intact._

_When she'd entered the campus building Paige been pointed in the direction of the main labs and upon arriving there had entered the nearest one to find a young good looking man leaning over a microscope,muttering to himself.Still unsure where she was meant to go she approached him_

"_Hello, can you help me I was looking for the things that were brought over from the lab explosion. I was told that they had been left here."_

_The young man looked up from his work and a big grin spread across his face before he launched himself at her, hugging her for dear life. "Saffy, oh my god I was so worried. What happened, the explosion was so bad how did you escape unhurt?" came a barage question_

_Paige pulled back from the young man and just looked at him. He obviously knew Safran,but in what respect, hopefully not in the biblical sense as she knew that would be very ackward.But she didn't want to think about that now, May be this young man could help her, if she could convince him of who she was then maybe just maybe she would have a chance of getting home._

"_Saffy are you ok, should you be out of the infirmary yet?" the young man asked concern in his voice._

"_Yes I'm fine, Dimitri released me yesterday. Look this is going to sound strange but I don't know who you are and I'm not Safran, my name is Paige Ashby."_

_The young man looked at her for a long while before replying." If this is one of your jokes Saffy cut it out.Dimitri told me that you were a bit confused and might be suffering from post traumatic stress but this is taking it a bit far, so have a heart and stop kidding about."_

"_I'm not joking, I really don't know who you are, all I do know is right before the explosion I was working on a device in my lab on my planet and there was a bright light, the next thing I know I'm being flung across the room, screaming my lungs out then I woke up in the infirmary surrounded by strangers. Please you have to believe me." Paige was by now pacing the room a trait she'd picked up from Helen not long after they'd met._

_The young man wasn't sure what to do when Safran had first come in he had thought something was off with her and when she'd started to talk he had thought it was part of some joke on her part but then she'd started to pace back and forth, confirming that something was wrong. All this was enough for him to grab hold of her shoulders stopping her._

"_Stop, ok I believe you. I'm not one hundred percent as to why but I do. Now what did you say your name was again, mine's Penten."_

"_Paige, Paige Ashby, actually it's Dr Paige Ashby. And you really believe me?" She asked sounding almost relived at the idea._

"_Yes."_

"_Oh thank you. I have been trying to convince Dimitri for the past few days but he seems to think I'm acting like this due to the explosion. It's nice to know that someone finally believes me. But why? I'm not trying to discourage you or anything but when I first came in here you thought I was playing a joke on you so what changed your mind?"_

"_Well when you first arrived I noticed you were off and now that I think about it, there's little differences, like when I hugged you, you let me, normally you would have pushed me away claiming cooties like you have since we were little, and then there was the pacing Safran has never paced in her life, she is more the stand there and rant type of person. So it's only a couple of small things but important ones none the less." Penten said a big smile on his face._

"_Okayy, if you say so. But what do we do now?"_

"_Well we need to figure out what happened to cause this, then hopefully we can figure out how the put it right. But firstly we're going to have to convince everyone that you are Safran and that Dimitri was right in thinking you were traumatised by what happened or he might declare you unfit for work, I'm sure he only released you knowing that he'd be able to keep an eye on you, seeing as he's your brother and can drop by for a visit at anytime. We'll need you in the lab working in order to figure this out not in the infirmary, besides it could be fun."_

_Paige was quiet for a minute thinking over what Penten had just said. Could she pull this off, could she really convince everyone that she was this young scientist .Well she was a scientist herself so that part would be easy, but the other part would be more difficult, but then again she did have Penten on her side and from the sounds of it he had known Safran for a long time, so maybe it was possible. And it was the only way for her to be able to move freely about the complex in order to come up with a solution._

"_Ok Penten I'll try, but I'll need all the help I can get, so you have to tell me everything you can about, well me"_

_Penten just smiled before holding out his hand to her "Come with me then and let's get started we have a lot of work to do."_

_Over the next few days Paige learned a lot about Safran as well as Penten.They had been friends since they were about three years old when Penten had accidentally broken a toy of hers while they were at playgroup, he had been so sorry that Safran had decided that he wasn't all bad and they'd been friends from that moment on. They had both shown an aptitude for science and had attended the city's academy where Penten had decided that he preferred medicine and changed his major while Safran had stayed with astrophysics' and biomechanics._

_Paige also found out that Safran was one of the youngest people ever to be considered for a fellowship at the university and that it was what she'd been working toward all her academic life, which made what she was doing all the more important as the fellowship hearing could be held anytime in the near future while she was still stuck in Safran's body and she didn't want to be the cause of her losing this chance._

_It was over a week after she'd been released that Paige got the chance to have a look at the device both she and Safran had been studying. It had looked a little worse for wear but seemed intact, and it wasn't until she'd set up Safran's equipment that she found out that it had been damaged during the explosion. From what she could tell at first examination the power supply had been depleted and one of the crystals inside had been broken. It was always going to be difficult to figure out but now it seemed virtually impossible.Penten on the other hand didn't seem deterred by this in the least, it seemed that he was the sort of person that thrived on a challenge and this encouraged Paige to at least try. So for the next couple of days she set about carefully dismantling the outer shell in order to check the inside and determine the extent of the damage and how to get it working again_

_Enjoying it,if so please review_


	3. Fellowship

_Paige was lent over the device; pulling at one of the crystals when Penten walked up behind her "Morning" he chirped making her jump_

"_Penten would you stop doing that, everytime you come to visit you sneak up on me and scare me half to death,Safran might have enjoyed that but I don't" she said as she turned to look at him, to find that he had brought her something._

"_What have you got there?"_

"_Oh nothing really just a letter from the fellowship board. It was delivered just now so I thought I'd bring straight up." He said holding it out to her._

_Paige was still for a moment thinking, this letter was almost certainly Safran's invitation to the fellowship hearing. One that Paige would now have to attend in her place and be convincing enough to gain a seat on the university board and be granted the job that went with it. Paige had learned a lot over the past few days about the young woman she was currently inhabiting but was it enough. She was brought out of her thoughts when Penten said_

"_Come on, will you just open it"_

"_I can't. You know what it is don't you, Safran's invitation for the fellowship hearing it has to be. And if I can't pull it off then all that she's been working toward will be shattered"_

"_Just open it; if it is the invitation then at least we will know how long we have to get you ready. Anyway the hearing is mostly a formality from what Safran has told me, she pretty much already has the post it's just the board's all for tradition, appearance's you know that sort of thing" Penten said as he moved closer and put the letter in her hand._

_Paige hoped he was right, as she lifted the seal and pulled out a beautifully decorated letter. It was as she had thought, the hearing had been organised and it was scheduled to take place two weeks from now._

"_Well we have two weeks, that's more than enough time" Penten said as he read the letter Paige had just handed him._

"_I can't do this." Paige sighed as she slumped onto a nearby chair_

"_Of course you can, you've managed to convince Dimitiri that you're his sister so convincing the fellowship board will be easy. Besides I know you can pull this off, you just need to have a little more faith in yourself." _

_Paige smiled at the young doctor, over the past week he had quickly become a good friend and he was right, Dimitri was happy with her progress when he'd last seen her, pleased that she was finally admitting that she had been traumatised by the whole lab explosion and was at last feeling more herself. Maybe Penten was right if Dimitri believed her then the fellowship board would. So she resigned herself to the fact that in two week she would be standing in front of Five person she had never meet talking about research she hadn't done trying to get them to give her a position she didn't earn. If she really thought about it the whole situation was quite comical._

"_I do have faith in myself, maybe not as much as you do. But anyway as you said we have two more weeks, I'm sure I'll be fine. Now enough of that have you come to help or were you just playing delivery boy?"_

_Penten smiled at her before he walked forward saying "I've come to help, the research hospital is quiet today so I thought I'd come over to see if there was anything I could do for you. So what do you want me to do?"_

_Paige smiled back then proceeded to instruct him as to what she was doing and how he could help, and they spent the rest of the day laughing and joking as they took the device apart and examined the inner components._

A short Chapter I know but the next ones will be longer


	4. Virtual Chat Room

_Paige had spent the past few days trying to figure out how to make the device work, considering that the main power crystal was broken and finally after many hours shut up in Safran's lab she managed to patch it together enough to try and use it. So very carefully she connected the repaired crystal and the device started to hum and suddenly she found herself standing in a darkened room. As she looked around she noticed someone else there too. Slowly she walked over the where they were standing "Hello, can you hear me?" she asked but received no reply._

_Suddenly without warning she heard a screeching sound and the room disappeared and she was back in the lab. Frustrated that it had failed she threw the notepad she was holding across the room, narrowly missing Penten who had just arrived for their daily lunch date_

"_Hey be careful, you almost hit me. What's going on, having a bad day?"_

"_No, everythings ok, it's just so frustrating everytime I get close to making a connection the machine shorts out." Paige said as she pulled the power crystal and held it up to the light examining it closely. "You know I think the reason it keeps doing it, is that where the crystal as been repaired, the energy is not flowing smoothly enough causing it to spike, what we really need a new one."_

"_Ok then, so we get a new one."_

"_It's not that simple it's not something you can just go and buy for the local market"_

"_Well can't you borrow one from a console or something; surely they'd be combatable seeing as most of the technology here is similar to the device." Penten asked_

"_Possibly I hadn't really thought about that, it might just work even if it's not an exact match I could at least get the device going for long enough to contact some one for help." Paige smiled as she looked at him to find a proud look on his face._

"_Enough about that for now it's time for lunch, come on you can play some more later but first we eat." He chirped almost pulling her out of the lab toward the town center_

_The afternoon proved more fruitful for Paige. she managed to find a crystal of similar shape and dimensions as the one needed and when she'd inserted it the device started humming and glowing very much like it had the first time she'd activated it. The only difference seemed to be the fact that she wasn't compelled to touch it this time. Now that she had managed to successfully power the device for more than a few seconds she set about hooking it up to the computers around her in the hope that they would give her some idea as to how she could reverse what had happened. Paige spent the remainder of the afternoon running tests on the now active device but couldn't find anyway to reconnect it with the one that should still be sitting in her lab on Atlantis. Sighing to herself she sat back in her chair glancing over at the computer checking the readings for the umpteen time in the hope that they would say something different but knew they wouldn't so she saved all the days data to disk and powered down the lab, heading out of the building turning toward her home. _

_The next day something happened that would change everything. Paige had gotten to the lab early and started to run a new series of tests hoping that these ones would at least open a link between Safran's device and the one on Atlantis in the hope that someone there could help her. But when the device activated this time she was once again drawn toward it and when she touched it was transported to the same room she had been sent to the day before. Only this time the room was bathed in light and the figure that had been there before was now walking toward her and to Paige's surprise it was her. _

"_Hello" she said as her double approached_

_The woman looked her up and down before saying "Ok, who are you, cause you look just like me. What's happening, and where are we?"_

"_Hi I'm Paige, you must be Safran." Paige said holding out her hand_

_Safran took it shaking it before replying "Yes, but as I said before where are we and more importantly why do you look like me?"_

"_Well I'm not entirely sure where we are, but the reason I look like you is that for the moment I am you, it seems the device we were both working on was used by the ansetoers to transport people over great distances, sort of swap places with each other for a time but when we swapped there was an explosion in your lab and the device was damaged and I think it sent back my body with your consciousness and vice versa ."_

_Safran was silent for a while trying to process this information "Ok, so how do we swap back?"_

"_That's the question, at the moment I'm running tests on the device trying to establish a link with my home in the hope they can help but by the looks of it I may have just found a way to link our minds and which could turn out to be even better."_

"_How do you figure that?" Safran asked sounding very much like McKay that Paige smiled _

"_Well if we can talk to each other then you can talk to my friends and then they can help us."_

"_That's not going to work for some reason I can move or talk back there; it's almost as if I'm asleep."_

_Paige looked at the young woman suddenly realising what had happened, when she'd been thrown across the room by the blast she had been injured so when the device had sent her body back it had gone back in the same state as it would have been if she'd stayed. _

"_I think I know why you can't communicate through me, when your lab exploded I was caught in the blast and obviously injured thus when me body was sent back with your consciousness then you became me, don't you see you must be in a coma."_

"_That could be a problem" Safran replied_

"_Yeah a big one, because if you can't communicate with anyone then we are on our own, we are going to have to work this out without any outside help. But I'm sure that the three of us can come up with something."_

"_Three?" Safran asked puzzled_

"_Oh sorry I didn't tell you, Penten is helping me, first with convincing everyone that I am you and second with the device itself.Oh and also with the fellowship."_

_Safran looked at the woman in front of her still a little werided out by seeing herself but pleased that she was ok and that this person was trying to get everything back to normal, but a little taken aback at the mention of the fellowship hearing._

"_It's come through already, When?"_

"_A couple of days ago, it's scheduled for not next week but the following.Penten has been couching me on some things to say but he told me you said it was more of a formality,traditional,please say he's right"_

"_Yes the meeting is more for the public showing than actually deciding. The board has told me that I already have to post but that it couldn't be announced before the next session "due to tradition" quote unquote, so you will have nothing to worry about, But there are more pressing matters, what have you found out about the device so far? "Safran asked going into scientist mode which made Paige smile._

"_Not all that much. The explosion caused some damage, the main power crystal was broken and a couple of the others were damaged, it's only working at the moment due to some ingenuous patch work on my part. I borrowed a crystal from one of the spare consoles in the lab."_

"_Good thinking, sounds like something I would do. So the device is now working, but by the looks of it all that has happened is that it's established a link between our minds , what we now need to do is figure out how to get the device to swap us back which I have a feeling is going to be the difficult part. You said that the main power crystal was damaged so your using a compatible but not exact replacement is that right?"_

"_Yeah, I tried repairing the crystal at first but the power levels kept spiking and shorting out the device so Penten suggested getting a new one, which I told he was impossible but I managed to find a crystal that was the same size and similar shape to use and even though it is working the power levels aren't as constant as before but it's working that's the main point, Why?"_

"_Well it could explain why the device has only linked our minds and not swapped us back. What if it's not just the shape and size of the crystal but also what the crystal is made of?"_

"_It's possible, but if that is the case then we may never be able to swap back if we can't find an exact match."_

"_Not neccessarly, if we can find a crystal made of the same minerals as the broken one, then we might be able to adapt it to our needs." Safran said as she walked over to one of the chairs in the room and sat down, feeling suddenly tired._

"_You might be on to something, I'll have to run some tests but I'm sure I can figure out what the broken crystal is made of, shouldn't take more than a couple of days." Paige started but stopped when she looked at Safran. "Hey are you ok? You've gone very pale."_

"_I'm feeling a little tired that's all."_

_Paige was about to reply when the device screeched and she found herself back in the lab_

"_God what now" she muttered as she moved closer to the device, checking the power crystal. It was fine so why had it shut down._

_Two hours later she found her answer, one of the damaged crystals had shorted out causing an overload. Paige removed the crystal looking closely at it, this shouldn't take that long she thought to herself she as set about hooking it up to one of the nearby computers. Paige sighed to herself she was finally finished what had started out as a quick repair had taken the better part of fours hours. Looking at the clock she decided it was too late it reactivate the device now besides she wanted someone there next time in case there was a more powerful serge or she couldn't get out on her own knowing she'd need someone to deactivate the device. _

_Once she'd locked up the lab she headed over to the hospital in the hope that Penten would still be there so she could first tell him what had happened today and secondly ask him if he would be there tomorrow to look out for her._

_She entered the building nodding to the young girl on reception before she made her way toward the main infirmary to find Dimitri busy with a patient so she headed straight toward Penten's lab where she found him as always bent over a microscope._

_Quietly she crept forward coming to a stop just behind him "Evening!" she shouted into his ear, quickly stepping back as he jumped about five feet in the air spinning round to face her._

"_Why'd you do that? You nearly gave me a coronary" he exclaimed "I was right in the middle of something important. Let's hope you didn't cause me to screw it up" he continued turning back to the table and microscope._

"_God I'm sorry, I didn't know" Paige said as she watched him for a second, worried that she had done something really wrong but then she noticed his shoulders jiggling he was laughing "Why you little …you made me think I'd really messed up."_

"_Sorry Paige I couldn't resist, Amy called to let me know you were on your way up and I knew you'd try to get me back for all the times I've made you jump so." Penten smiled at her as he shrugged his shoulders_

"_Well I was going to ask you to dinner but now I'm not so sure." Paige said trying to sound angry but found all she really wanted to do was laugh so after fighting it for about a second burst into a fit of hysterical giggles, much to Penten's surprise._

"_Paige are you ok?"_

"_Yes I'm fine, just over tired I guess I always get like this when I'm sleep deprived but I tend to be able to control it better must be something to do with being in a different body. Anyway do you want to come to dinner with me?" Paige managed to stop laughing for long enough to get her invitation out._

"_Of course, just give me a few minutes to tidy up, then I'm all yours"_

_Over dinner Paige told Penten about how the device had linked hers and Safran's minds and she was now able to talk to her. She also asked if he would be free the next day to be there with her so if she couldn't disconnect he could shut to device down.Penten agreed immediately saying that he had some downtime as his research was finished for the next week, so as they said their goodnights they agreed to meet at the lab early the next morning._

_Paige breathed slowly as she prepared to activate the device.Penten was sitting next to her attaching a heart and brain wave monitor, having insisted that if she was going to do this she was going to do it right._

"_Ok you're all set" he said switching on the machines_

"_You know this isn't necessary" _

"_Just humour me will you. I know you were hooked up to the device yesterday and nothing happened but as you said yourself the device only shut off due to an overload, I want to be able to tell when to shut it off ,not have you faint or something before I act. Also I think you should limit your time frame in there, at least until you get used to it."_

_Paige sighed as he finshed, knowing he was right but not really wanting to admit it. "Fine, how about this I'll go in for half an hour and if my vitals are fine you leave it another thirty minutes if I don't disconnect after that then you can shut down the device, ok?"_

"_I think that is acceptable, now are you ready?"_

"_As I'll ever be, I'm activating the device now" she said as she touched the power button and the device started humming. This time the tingling sensation wasn't as bad and soon she found herself standing in the brightly lit room_

"_Safran are you there?" Paige called when she couldn't see her._

"_Yes, I'm over here" Safran called causing Paige to walk toward the far side of the room_

"_Wow, where'd all this come from?" Paige asked as she entered what looked like a state of the art lab._

"_Not sure, but this is where I appeared just a second ago, it must have something to do with us. We are trying to find a way to reverse what's happened after all. I believe the device can read our minds as well as link them so it knows that we will need a lab to figure out what happened ,thus here was are."_

"_I suppose. But as this a sort of virtual reality will what we do here work in the real world?"_

"_We won't know for sure but we can experiment here first before trying the real thing. And even if this is all in our own heads we can at least put to rest any fears we might have as to what could happen with the device but I have a feeling that what ever we do in here will work out there."_

"_Yeah I agree, so what do you want to look at first?" _

_Penten watched Paige and the monitor closely, checking for any signs of stress or discomfort. She'd been in there for twenty minutes so far and everything looked good. So much so that Penten began to think he'd over reacted a little but of course would never admit that to Paige. As he checked the computer yet again he noticed that the heart beat and resperaition readings he was getting were the same as he would if she was sleeping, dreaming even but that her brain waves were twice as active. This concerned him a bit but not enough to cut the power._

_Safran checked the video screen of the electronic microscope zooming to in on the crystal in front of her, trying to see if there was anything unusual in it's structur,in the hope it would help them in producing a new one._

"_Found anything yet" Paige's voice sounded behind her_

"_Not really the crystal seems to be like any other I've seen, there isn't any defining characteristic's that sets it apart from the other, well none that I can see, may be you should have a look at it." Safran said as she leaning back stretching out her muscles. They'd been going at this for almost an hour and must of that time she'd been hunched over the work bench._

_Paige was about to move when she felt a sudden pull on her subconscious. "How long have we been working, what time is it?" she asked looking at her watch, realising she'd been in here for just under an hour.Penten was probably at this moment getting ready to shut the device down. "Safran I've got to go, Penten and I agreed that I wouldn't stay in her longer than an hour until I was used to it and times almost up, so"_

"_Yes go I'm feeling a little tried myself, must be something to do with your body being weakened. How are you planning on disconnecting?"_

"_I'm not sure, the device is linking are brains and we've been able to change little things in here today so I recone if I just think about returning to the lab then I will. I'll activate the device again tomorrow ok.Well here goes" and with that she closed her eyes and thought hard about returning to the lab._

"_Paige are you alright?" Penten said as she opened her eyes to look at him _

"_Yeah I'm fine, a little dizzy but ok.Why?"_

"_Well just a second ago all my instruments starting beeping and you began to shake then suddenly the device shut down and your body went limp"_

"_I'm fine honestly, like I said I'm a little dizzy but I think that's more to do with the fact that I didn't eat breakfast this morning. Anyway at least we know I can get out when I want."_

"_Yes but I'm still concerned as to what happened. I would like to run some tests just to be safe" Penten added the last part when he saw her face._

"_Ok, just let me save the data collected then we can go over to your lab and you can test away." _

_Paige sat patiently waiting for Penten to return_

"_Well at first look everything seems ok; your blood pressure is a little high but nothing to worry about. The brain scan I did looked fine but we will have to wait until tomorrow to be sure that goes for the blood tests too."_

"_See I told you I was fine, now what time is it?"_

"_Twelve fifteen why?"_

"_Well I know your not going to let me reactivate the device today so I thought I'd get some research done into what the power crystal is made of but seeing as it's lunch time, shall we go" she said holding her arm out_

"_Why not then after lunch I can come and help you in your lab"_

_Paige smiled knowing full well what he was doing, if he was there helping her he could also watch over her, which was comforting in a way. "Ok then lets go"_

_They decided that today they would have a nice leisurely lunch instead of the normal rushed forty five minutes so they opted for a picnic of sorts, going over to the vending machines and getting a wide array of snacks and drinks then headed for the botanical gardens just outside the main city._

_The afternoon went tediously slow as both scientists spent hours trying to determine what the main power crystal was composted of. At first it had appeared to be sodalite but some of the properties were off and there appeared to be an unknown element that the computer couldn't identify. It wasn't until Paige reconnected to the device the next day that she worked out that the unknown element wasn't indigenous to the planet. From the looks of it when the ancients were still thriving they had gone to another planet possibly Earth to collect minerals etc and then had integrated them into the infrastructure on the many planets they inhabited. Paige hoped that some of this element still existed on this planet or she was never going to get home._

Still enjoying it,if so please,please review.It helps me make things better


	5. Atlantis Returned

_ATLANTIS RETURNED_

"_How could you have been on the planet for two and a half months, been part of the scientific community and not looked at any star charts?" Rodney McKay asked his voice laced with anger_

"_Well most of the time, I was trying to figure out how to reactive the device in order to return home, besides Penten had already told me that we were at least three months away by puddle jumper and that there wasn't a stargate on the planet, well not to his knowledge anyway. So why would I spend time looking at something that wouldn't benefit me?" Paige shot back, trying to remain calm._

_Rodney went to reply but decided against it, Dr Ashby's recovery and subsequence story was the talk of Atlantis and he too was intrigued by the transportation device she had used and the possibility that there was a race of humans out there with the Ancient gene and a city similar to Atlantis with weapons they'd not seen before. The news of undiscovered technology had caused all of the scientists to get very excited at the prospect of something new to study and had got Col Sheppard salivating at the thought of new toys to play with._

"_Well what can you tell me about where you were?"_

"_Not much other than what Penten said that if I wanted to get back to the Pegasus Galaxy by puddle jumper that it would take at least 3 months and that was only an estimate." Paige said walking over to the console next to Rodney._

"_That doesn't help, isn't there anything else you remember. The name of one of their constellations would give us a possible point of origin."_

"_I told you I never saw a stargate on the planet, there could have been one but if so it hasn't been used for centuries and certainly wasn't in or near the city I and Safran did mention something about a legend telling of the great portal to another world but I think they said it had been put down as a metaphor for passing over after death. God it's so frustrating the longer I'm back the more difficult it gets to remember things. It's as though it was all a dream, that it never really happened that's why I want to no need to find them, I want to meet them face to face, but if I can't remember something more concrete then that will never happen." Paige was starting to get tense and began to pace, causing Rodney to look up from the console and watch her._

"_Dr Ashby"_

"_Yes" Paige said stopping, looking over at him_

"_Why don't you call it a day, I'll keep looking over the scan's we took when you woke up and compare them to the scans of the device and see if they can help. I'll call you if anything shows up."_

_Paige was reluctant to leave but Dr Beckett had only released her that morning, where upon she had gone straight to the lab in order to help, that had been five hours ago, may be a rest would do her some good and food yes food would be good. Therefore, she nodded to Dr McKay, exiting the lab and heading for the commissary._

_As she walked past the gym she heard Helen's voice." Thanks for the work out Lt It was fun" then the door opened to reveal her friend."Paige, god are you all right you look tired. When did Carson release you?"_

_Paige smiled at her friend "this morning, I've been in the lab all day helping Rodney and Zelenka figure out where I went."_

"_What are you mad you should be resting, I bet you haven't eaten today either have you."_

"_Don't start H, if you must know Rodney has just tactfully chucked me out of the lab and I was just on my way to the commissary now. Would you like to join me?"_

"_Of course you know me I never turn down an offer for food. Let me just get my things and we can go." _

_Pain she could feel pain, an ache that seemed to engulf her entire body. Paige tried to move but seemed paralysed what was going on_

_Slowly she tried to move her hand but found that nothing happened, then suddenly everything changed. she was standing in a field looking out over the hills when someone called her, no not her she turned the scene changed again this time she was standing in a large room that looked similar to the control room on Atlantis only this was different somehow. She was trying to figure out just how when the gate started to dial. Paige looked over toward it to see the symbols light up for a second as the locked and realised that someone was dialling in to where ever she she moved toward the control panel trying to see who or what was coming and where they were coming from. As the symbols lit up on the control panel Paige noticed that some of them were familiar. Suddenly she realised the first two symbols were the same as the ones needed to dial Atlantis, the third and forth looked familiar somehow but she wasn't one hundred percent sure she recognised them. Then just as the fifth symbol was about the appear the scene changed yet again only this time she was standing Safran's lab again just as the explosion sounded_

_Again the blast picked her up, throwing her backward toward the wall, she let out a scream as she flew through the air, suddenly sitting bolt upright in bed breathing heavily franticly looking round the room. She was in her quarters, safe and sound it had all been a dream._

_She flopped back on the pillow just laying there trying to get her breathing under control when she remembered the control room but more importantly the gate symbols, quickly she jumped out of bed and run over to the desk and began writing them down before she forgot them. Then knowing she'd never get back to sleep headed toward the bathroom before jumping in the shower .After getting dressed, she grabbed her notepad with the symbols in, before she headed toward McKay's lab._

_She had no idea what time it was but for some unknown reason knew McKay would still be there. When she entered, she found him bent over the device that had caused all of this, muttering angrily when he touched something and it sparked._

"_Dr McKay." Paige called from the doorway trying to get his attention not wanting to repeat the incident that had happen the last time she'd interrupted him while he was working._

_When no answer came, she moved a little closer and tried again "Dr McKay I need to speak to you" this time she got a grunt and he stopped for a second _

"_What can't you see I'm busy" he replied not even turning to speak to her_

_Realising he thought she was one of the lab techs she moved a little closer and touched his shoulder before continuing "Dr McKay, I just had a dream, well nightmare actually and I need to tell you about it"_

"_Well good for you but as I said I'm busy. Go and bug Heightmeyer" came the curt reply before he went back to the device._

_Paige had had enough so she walked round the work bench until she was facing him and slammed the notebook in which she'd written the symbols, down right in front of him, causing Rodney to stop what he was doing and finally look at her. _

_Rodney blinked a couple of times focusing on the woman before him, frowning at her. "Dr Ashby, what can I do for you, as I said I'm busy."_

"_Dr McKay as I have been saying for the past couple of minutes. I've just had a nightmare and I think the content can help us find out where I went." Then Paige proceeded to tell Rodney what she had seen then show him the symbols she had written down. _

_Rodney was surprisingly quiet while Paige explained her nightmare, he didn't butt in once and it began to worry her until he said. "So what you're trying to tell me is that now you remember something, that all of a sudden you have this nightmare that gives you four gate symbols. Well that's convenient isn't it?"_

"_What you don't believe me. You think I've known this all along and I was just holding out, or do you think I was just holding out on you, is that it. You think I've done this to make you look bad because you haven't figured it out yet."_

_Rodney was silent as he looked at her_

"_If that was my plan why would I be here in the middle of the night talking to you when I could have waited until Dr Weir or Col Sheppard was .answer me that."_

"_Well,"_

"_Exactly, I came down here straight away because I thought it would help, but I see I was wrong, well I'll be going and I'm taking my notepad with me, goodbye" Paige said as she turned and went to leave._

"_Wait, Dr Ashby stop, maybe I was a little harsh. It's just that normally when things like this happen disaster is just around the corner. So I've learned to be critical of things suddenly happening or appearing."_

_Paige stopped her retreat and turned to look at Dr McKay, trying to work out if he was being sincere or just trying to get her to show him the symbols again. After about a minute she decided that he was on the level and that was as much of an apology as she was ever going to get so she slowly walked back to where he was standing, handing him the notepad._

"_These first two symbols are the same as the ones for Atlantis" Rodney began_

"_Yeah I noticed that, and the other two looked familiar but I couldn't place them."_

"_I agree, what we need to do it run them through the computers and see what they come up with. But I've got a feeling there's going to be a number of combinations." Rodney said as he looked closely at the notepad then to the device_

"_Ok then what are we waiting for, let's run the symbols shall we." Paige said walking over to his laptop going to open it._

"_What are you doing, don't touch that." He said coming over to her and snatching his laptop away from her._

_Paige stood there slightly shocked for a second before replying "sorry I was only going to use your computer to run the symbols I wasn't planning on trying to take over the galaxy, you really need to chill you know that."_

"_I'm sure you weren't it's just I'm using it at the moment, I'm in the middle of a dianoetic." He said in a huff_

"_Ok fine I'll do it in my lab" she said picking up her notepad and exiting leaving Rodney staring after her_

_It took Rodney a full five minutes to process what had just happened and realise that Paige had left, before he followed her carrying his laptop, Paige arrived at her lab five minutes later and quickly booted up her computer, turning on the stereo while she waited. Paige was humming to herself as Rodney entered her lab and walked over the where she was sitting._

"_Oh hello Dr McKay, what can I do for you this fine morning" she said as she began typing away entering the symbols into the encryption data base._

_Rodney can't believe the way she was talking to him, all the other scientist well apart from Kavangh showed him at least some respect but this woman seemed to enjoy batting him, and it was strange but he found that refreshing. "Hello Dr McKay" Paige said bringing him out of thoughts. _

"_What oh sorry"_

"_How can I help you?" Paige asked again knowing full well why he was there_

"_I see that you have started entering the symbols I just wanted to make sure everything went smoothly that's all."_

"_Thank you Dr but I think I can handle this on my own, the computer is doing most of the work anyway. And I'll be sure to call you if there's a problem." Paige answered voice statement filled with so much sarcasms that Rodney didn't know how to retort so he just grunted and left._

"_Yes" Paige whispered as he exited she'd managed to shut up Rodney McKay. _

_Paige spent the next few hours watching her computer screen as it searched for possible gate address from the symbols she'd entered earlier._

_Yawning she glanced up at the clock noticing that it was past six in the evening and wondered why Helen hadn't come to get her for dinner then remembered she was off world with Major Lorne's team, studying something or other she really hadn't been listening when her friend had told her. So after quickly checking her computer was ok she got to her feet and left the lab heading for the commissary, almost colliding with Dr McKay as she passed his lab._

_  
"Ah I was just coming to see you Dr Ashby, has the encryption problem come up with anything yet?"_

"_Not a lot it's indicated that there are two or three possible combinations so far but it's still working at the moment, I've left it while I go and get something to eat"_

_Rodney seemed to consider what she said before replying "Good, you just say you were on the way to the commissary, would you mind me coming along, I haven't eaten since this morning I think and being I'm sure you understand."_

"_Yeah sure, shall we go then" Paige said, as she turned slighting and continued along the corridor followed by Rodney._

_When they arrived in the commissary, they saw Col Sheppard, Ronan and Teyla sitting together at one of the far tables. Paige walked over to the counter filled her tray and was just about to sit down but was stopped by Col Sheppard calling to her _

_She looked over at him to see him beckoning her over, sighing she picked up her tray and headed toward him._

"_Can I help you Colonel, I was just about to eat as you can see."_

"_Join us please, Rodney's going to so you should to. Besides you can tell me more about those new weapons you saw." He beamed up at her._

"_There's not really much to tell, if you've read the report I filed that's pretty much it. I only saw them briefly when I was looking around the city in the hope of finding a they look similar to the hand devices used by the Goa'uld but looked less ornate and are used to create what appeared to be fire/lighting balls that could then be thrown. The most interesting thing I noticed was that when they are inactive they look just like jewelled wristbands and that the jewel in worn on the underside of the wrist. This makes me think that the hand cradles what ever creates the fire ball."_

"_Sounds great, when you manage to contact the planet see if we can have a couple of them, I'm sure Rodney and his scientists would love to get there hands on one." John said indicating to Rodney as he spoke._

"_What, yes of course" came a programmed response as Rodney tucked into the food in front of him._

_The next 20 minutes passed quickly with Teyla telling the group all the news from the main land and Ronan asking if any of them wanted to spar that day. That when Paige looked at her watch she was surprised at the time and said her goodbye's heading back toward her lab._

_After entering, she headed straight for her laptop in order to check if the encryption programme had finished yet. Much to her surprise it had but what surprised her more was the message that was being displayed._

_Gate Addresses found - 7_

_For enhanced search click below_

_Paige stared at the screen, she'd used this encryption programme before and it hadn't brought this up last time. She was about to call Dr McKay when she stopped, no he would only come in and try to take over, she wanted to do this herself, so she placed the cursor over the button, clicking as instructed._

_The screen went blank for a second then came back on displaying a screen she never seen before which didn't worry her that was until all the ancient symbols started appearing, Paige sat transfixed watching as ancient script filled the screen then began to change into English. Once all the text was translated her computer started beeping and the cursor began flashing indicating for her to enter data. At first Paige wasn't sure what to do then finally gave in, reaching for her ear and activating her radio_

"_Dr McKay come in please," she said not taking her eyes off the screen_

"_McKay here, who is this and what do you want?" came the curt reply._

"_It's Dr Ashby, can you come down to my lab, I think I've found something." Paige answered not really sure what she'd found._

_The airwaves where quiet for thirty second or so before Rodney said, "Can you elaborate Dr"_

_Paige thought for a second about what to say, did she tell him that she had opened something unknown without calling him first or only tell him about what was on the screen now. She opted for the middle ground by saying, "Well the encryption programme has finished and it's found some gate address"_

"_But"_

"_But I think it's done something to my computer" _

"_In what way?"_

"_I think you should just come down to my lab and see for yourself it would take too long to explain."_

_Rodney muttered something Paige could quite make out before he replied, "Fine I'll be there as soon as I can"_

_Ten minutes later Rodney strolled into the lab looking annoyed. "Ok what happened? What did you do?"_

"_Well I came back after lunch to find that the encryption programme had finish and had found seven possible gate addresses"_

"_Yes, so why did you call me down here?"_

"_I'm getting to that on the screen was a pop up window I'd never seen before it displayed the number of gate address found then said for enhanced search click below so I did and the screen went blank then started to fill with ancient script. After the whole screen was full it translated into English, now it's prompting me to enter data, look" she said as she turned her laptop to face him._

_Rodney studied the screen for a few seconds then said "you didn't tamper with the encryption programme at all as it was running?"_

"_No of course not, what do you take me for"_

"_Ok,well it looks like you've found an additional search area within the ancient data base, by the looks of it we entered incomplete data and the computer will try to reconstruct it for us." Rodney said as he used the mouse to click onto an icon causing the page to change. _

"_Ok then enter the symbols lets see what happens" Paige said handing him her notepad._

_After the symbols had been input the screen changed and was replaced with a star chart, indicating what they presumed were the locations active gates. Then as they watched a small window opened, displaying seven boxes with the symbols they'd already entered in the first five then the computer started running through the gate symbols one by one as though it was searching the ancient data base for combinations using the symbols entered. It reminded Paige of those hi-tech bank robbery films where the thief used a device that searched for the number code to a vault and you'd watch as one by one the numbers would lock until eventually the thief would have the full code and the vault would open._

_As they watched a new gate address appeared on the list already found, then another. And soon there were fifteen addresses listed on the screen with corresponding flashing dots on the star chart. About ten minutes later the screen beeped and told them that the search was complete._

_Rodney clicked on the prompted icon and the list of gate addresses disappeared along with the star chart to be replaced with a new chart showing all of the addresses and their corresponding gates._

"_This is amazing" Rodney exclaimed as he moved to look closer at the screen. "The search has shown up not only possible gate addresses for the symbols we entered but where the gates are in the solar system, so even if the gate's themselves are gone the planets can still be reached by ship."_

_Paige smiled to herself as she watched Rodney examine the screen, he reminded her a little of Penten what with the excitement he was showing over the new information. She was brought out of her musing when Rodney said "All we need to do now is work out which of these gates are approximately three months away at the speed the puddle jumpers can go."_

_Everything seemed to be falling into place, soon she hoped she would be meeting up with Safran and Penten again. All there was to do now was work out which of the planets the computer had come up with was most like one she had been on for the past two and a half months. Rodney was in the middle of helping her calculate planet distance to puddle jumper speed when he was called away. It seemed that some of the scientists had gotten into a stand off with a new group of marines fresh from the meant that she was left to finish up the calculations herself, Helen had dropped by at some point and tried to persuade her to go to dinner but as she was nearly finished had said for her to go on ahead but was met with a definite NO her friends explanation being that was how she had been hurt the last time, so for the next twenty minutes Helen helped her figure out which of the planets were close enough to be the one she had lived on._

_In the end they came up with four possibles, prompting Paige to want to go straight to Dr Weir but Helen had insisted they go and eat first so that was how Paige found herself in the commissary queuing for dinner when all she wanted to do was head for Dr weir's office in the hope that she would ask for the daeluos's help to get to the planets._

_Once she'd eaten both her and Helen headed back to the lab, retriving the print outs and Paige's laptop then walked toward the gate room and Dr Weir's office. They arrived in good time to find her talking to Rodney and Col Sheppard._

"_Oh Dr Ashby we were just talking about you, Come in" Elizabeth said mentioning for them to enter_

"_Thank you."_

"_I presume you're here because you've found the gate address to the planet you were on"_

"_Well sort of Dr McCoy and I have narrowed it down to four possible ones but as I said in my report I never saw a stargate the whole time I was there, and Penten told me to his knowledge there wasn't one." Paige said as she took the print outs from Helen and handed them to Elizabeth._

"_Is it possible that there is a gate and not having been used for generations, has simply been forgotten?" she asked looking first at Paige then to Rodney_

"_It's possible but unlikely, even if the gate was left unused then there must be some sort of record for it, But then again if the people just stopped using it for what ever reason then future generations wouldn't know what it was even if they did come across it." Paige mused_

"_Or they could have buried it like they did on earth" Helen said joining the conversation._

"_You said the main city was similar to Atlantis" Rodney asked_

"_Yes why?"_

"_Well you know how big this city is, could it be possible that the people of the planet you went to"_

"_Furbiuos" Paige interrupted him_

"_What?"_

"_Furbiuos the planets name is Furbious, it just came to me"_

"_Fine could it be possible that the people of Furbiuos aren't occupying the entire city that the gate like the one here is situated inside the city and has simply been forgotten."_

"_I don't know I never really went further than Safran's lab or the hospital where penten works which was in the outer area. There could be parts of the city that weren't used, but I couldn't say for sure."_

_There was silence for a second before Elizabeth spoke, "Well what I think we should do is try to dial the four addresses you've found and see what happens. If we get a lock on any of them then we can send a MALP through and take it from there"_

_Everyone present nodded in agreement then waited for Elizabeth to get up and lead them toward the main control room. Paige stood off to the side as everyone gathered round the control panel and the DHD only to have Rodney of all people urge her forward to stand with them as they dialled the first address on the list. Quickly the chevrons locked one by one until it came to the seventh that refused to._

"_Well looks like that gate is gone, try the next one" Rodney said leaning over the Lt pointing to the list_

_Again all the chevrons locked apart from the last one, Paige started to get worried there were only two addresses left she was so caught up in her worry that she didn't realise at first that the atmosphere of the control room had changed it wasn't until Dr Weir called for calm that Paige realised they had made a connection. _

"_Send the MALP" she said turning to Paige then continuing "Lets see what's on the other side"_

_Paige watched closing as the MALP entered the event horizon and disappeared before turning her attention to the screen on her right. They all waited patiently for any images to be transmitted back and were rewarded seconds later. It seemed that the MALP had made it through in one piece and was standing in what looked like a run down version of their gate room _

"_Well air quality is a little stale but it's breathable and there's no sign of structural damage, I'd say it was safe if we wanted to go." Rodney said breathing the silence._

_Elizabeth looked up at John then over to Paige before speaking "Well if you're prepared to, you can go."_

"_No problem here, McKay you up for a little trip?"_

"_It would be scientifically sound to check out, seeing as it could be another city like Atlantis, also there could be a possibility of finding a ZPM."_

"_I'll take that as a yes then shall I?" John said cutting him off before he started babbling. "And I'm sure Teyla and Ronon will be up for a little field trip, so when do we leave?"_

"_Tomorrow morning, that should give Dr McCoy time to prepare." Elizabeth said looking straight at her smiling_

"_What, you want me to go, if you don't mind me asking why?"_

"_Well you are the only one who's seen what the other city looks like, you'll be able to say if this is the right place, also if it is Furbious then it will be an advantage to have someone there who knows where things are, and knows the local's" Dr Weir explained looking over at John who nodded his agreement._

"_Sure it never hurts to have someone who's know where their going, beside I would have thought you'd job at the change to meet Penten and Safran."_

"_Of course I just thought forget it, I'll be ready."_

"_Good you ship out at o nine thirty, dismissed"_

_Paige sat still for a second trying to process this latest information, she was going off world, More importantly she was possibly going to see Safran and Penten again. Slowly she got to her feet and followed Helen out of Dr Weir's office and they both headed for the commissary where they bumped into John, Rodney, and Teyla._

"_So excited about going off world tomorrow" John asked after they'd started eating_

"_I'm not sure it's really sunk in yet, I came to Atlantis to be part of the science community, I didn't think I'd ever need to leave here, let alone get the chance to go off world, until now I haven't even wanted to, that was more Dr McCoy's forte." Paige answered looking over at her friend with a knowing smile._

_Helen smiled back causing Rodney to ask "What do you mean by that?"_

"_Nothing just a private joke" Helen replied before Paige could answer_

_Teyla changed the subject at that moment guessing the reason for Paige's comment and also knowing that Helen didn't want people to find out about her military past._

"_You will be fine Dr Ashby, Col Sheppard, Ronon and I will be there with you, everything will be fine, I'm sure."_

"_Thank you Teyla, you know it's not that I'm worried well not really it's just that if this is Furbious then there was a gate on the planet all the time I was there and if I had looked harder then I would have been able to contact someone for help. I could have come home sooner"_

"_I believe that everything happens for a purpose, and the fact that you never found a stargate is all part of the reason you took this journey in the first place."_

"_Teyla you can't really believe that can you. It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it could have easily happened to me, I was originally meant to study to device but due to circumstances it was passed to Dr Ashby's team." Rodney said as he finished eating._

"_Dr McKay thinking on it I believe that Dr Ashby was meant to be the one that activated the device and took the journey. From what she's said if it had been you then it could have turned out very differently."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Ok that's enough, McKay why don't we just say that Teyla believes it was one thing and you another then leave it at that. Well I best be off I've got to supervise a training session for some new recruits in an hour, see you bright and early tomorrow bye" and with that Col Sheppard departed leaving the rest of them to watch him go._

"_I'd better go as well, I'll need to finish a few things tonight as we're going tomorrow morning" Rodney said before he stood up and headed for his lab._

"_Me too" Paige said following him out which left Teyla sitting with Helen _

"_Well I don't have anything to do, all my projects are pretty much finished for the next few days, so I was going to head down to the gym, see if anyone wanted to spa"_

"_I will spa with you if you'd like. I too have nothing else to do and I'm sure we could persuade Ronon to join us." _

"_That would be great Teyla I've seen Ronon working out with some of the marines and wanted to join in but knew that one, they would never let me and two it would spark questions about how and where a scientist learned hand to hand."_

"_I understand and I'm sure if you asked Ronon would by happy to spa and being the person he is wouldn't ask any questions."_

_Teyla had been right, even though Ronon had at first been a little reluctant to fight her when he'd seen her spa against Teyla had he changed his mind and never once asked how or where she had learned. The three of them worked out for about two hours before Paige had arrived and asked to talk with Helen._

"_What's up are you alright?" she had asked her friend_

"_I'm fine just a bit concerned, this is the first time going off world for me, I've never been through the gate before. What's it like?"_

_Helen looked at Paige wanting to laugh, her friend was scared, this was a first. She had since her stand up to McKay and a few military generals that had questioned her scientific theories but it seemed the thought of going off world was the one thing that could put fear in her friend's eyes._

"_Don't worry, it's nothing a bit chilly the first time but you need to remember is not to eat too much before you go or you'll regret it believe me."_

"_God help me, can you come along please." Paige almost pleaded_

"_I haven't been invited, but if Col Sheppard or Dr Weir were to extend the invite of course I'd where are you going?" Helen called after her_

"_To speak to Dr Weir, stay there I'll be right back" Paige called over her shoulder as she disappeared round the corner._

_Helen wasn't sure what had just happened or what she should do know so just turned and walked back into the gym sitting down on one of the benches staring off into space, it wasn't until Teyla spoke that she remembered they were there_

"_Are you ok Dr McCoy?"_

_What oh yeah I'm fine; I think I'm going to be joining you guys tomorrow. Paige has just gone off to get me added to your party."_

"_You would be a fine addition to the team and I am sure that Dr Ashby would appreciate having someone she trusts whole heartedly along" Teyla said as she began to pack away her sticks_

"_Well I don't even know if Dr Weir will say yes but Paige can be quite persuasive and I have a feeling that Paige will get what she wants" just then the door of the gym slid open and said Dr walked in grinning_

"_Dr Weir agreed, your coming with us tomorrow" she said almost jumping up and down_

"_I'll leave you two to talk, see you in the morning" Teyla said as she picked up her bag and walked toward the door._

"_Thanks" Helen called out to her_

"_You are welcome Dr McCoy" she replied before exiting and heading in the direction of her quarters_

"_You really want me to come? Why"_

"_Just because. I know you'll look out for me not because it's your job but because you're my friend, beside I know you miss the action and don't try to deny it because it's true."_

"_I have been off world since I got here you know"_

"_Yes but not with Col Sheppard's team and you know their rep,trouble seems to find them where ever they go, so instead of the boring scientific mission's you've been going on you'll get to see a bit of action."_

"_Ok but what happens if we do run into something, then, my secret will be out."_

"_Oh yeah, I hadn't thought of that. I'll go back to Dr Weir and say I've changed my mind"_

"_No don't worry, I'm sure everything with be fine, I'll just have to resist the urge to shot things if we run into trouble. It will be fine. Come on let's get some sleep, I have a feeling it's going to be a long day tomorrow" and with that she picked up her bag and headed for the door._

20


End file.
